A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Street Sermons LP by Daddy Long Legs. It’s funny how an album cover is capable of getting the gears to begin running in a listener’s mind and cause them to begin drawing conclusions and/or forming expectations of the music before they even hear a note. In the case of Daddy Long Legs’ debut album, Street Sermons, the image on the album’s cover sort of cross a couple of wires; the black...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Lunatics EP by The Drowns. It would be easy enough to curse The Drowns out for what the band has done with the Lunatics EP. Not unlike what innumerable other acts have done, over the years (Hot Water Music, NOFX and John Lennon all leap to mind), The Drowns have elected to take a moment that they’re capable of stretching out from their musical comfort zone (which has tended to stay...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Oi! This is Streetpunk! 2020 compilation from Pirates Press Records. This far into the evolution of punk rock, it has reached the point where the myriad sub-genres that punk produced are easily able to stand on their own as well as having a dedicated, autonomous fanbase which doesn’t necessarily rely on crossover appeal to get over with listeners. Simply said, hardcore bands don’t have to hope for some runoff fans from...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Booze & Glory’s 12” die-cut “London Skinhead Crew” single. Rare is the single which features the better of two tracks on its B-side, but such is undeniably the case when it comes to Booze & Glory’s “London Skinhead Crew” 12” single. This time out, the London-based punk band unlaces its collective boots a bit and presents a reggae-infused impression of their excellent call-to-arms anthem, “London Skinhead Crew” before going ahead and presenting...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the 12” picture-disc reissue of Old Firm Casuals’ self-titled debut EP. By the time Lars Frederiksen unveiled Old Firm Casuals in 2010, the singer/guitarist was already very well exposed in the punk rock community. He had already cut his teeth with U.K. Subs in 1991, gained pop (and pop-punk) stardom with Rancid beginning in 1993 and “gone solo” with The Bastards in addition to taking a seat in the producer’s chair at...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the new Hellcat Records/Pirates Press reissue of the Viking LP by Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards. If the idea that a classic album is defined as one which holds personal meaning for a listener can be taken as factual, then I can say confidently that Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards’ sophomore album, Viking, is one of the most important albums of my life; for me, it is a personal classic. I remember,...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Kids In The Street LP by Justin Townes Earle. After being toasted first and then either critically maligned or flat out ignored for a little while thereafter, Justin Townes Earle has made a sound on his seventh album (first for New West Records) that any critic worth his sand simply cannot ignore. After all the hard luck, Earle had some addiction issues and he has walked on the wrong side of...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the La Llama Que Nunca Se Apaga 7” EP by Yesterday’s Heroes.
 I could open this review by writing something trite like, “When it’s done well, whether listeners comprehend the language that a song was written in or not is irrelevant; its meaning will come through in the passion with which it was performed,†but that would probably make readers scoff. It should – such statements are often heavy-handed and surprisingly artless...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the diecut “Carry On” single by Booze & Glory The catch about the genre that’s affectionately known as “street punk†is that those who make the music often do not make it for very long. The reason for that is simple: street punk is impoverished by nature – the best of the genre is made by penniless players who are making music either to entertain themselves or their friends – and loses...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the untitled Street Dogs/Noi!SE 10” split record. There has never been a point in music history when two bands issuing a split release together hasn’t been a gamble. The nature of the format is competitive by nature; both bands are in a position where they have to try and outshine the other, and that someone is going to come in second is guaranteed; whether it’s by an inch or a mile is...